- as Frank Drebin from
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

LESLIE NIELSEN

While in Winnipeg, Canada,
to promote their movie Men with Brooms (2002), he and co-star Paul
Gross received Honorary Citizenships from Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray
at the Granite Curling Club.

Leslie Nielsen, (February
11th 1926 - November 28th 2010). Nielsen was a Canadian and
naturalized American actor and comedian and appeared in more than one
hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his
career, portraying more than 220 characters.

Nielsen was born in Regina,
Saskatchewan on February 11th 1926. Nielsens' mother, Mabel Elizabeth
(née Davies), was a Welsh immigrant, and his father, Ingvard
Eversen Nielsen, was a Danish-born Constable in the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police. Nielsen had two brothers; his older brother, Erik
Nielsen (19242008), was Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from
1984 to 1986. Ingvard was a troubled man who beat his wife and sons,
and Leslie longed to escape. As soon as he graduated from high school
at 17, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, even though he was
legally deaf (he wore hearing aids most of his life).

After the Air Force Nielsen
worked as a disc jockey before receiving a scholarship to
Neighborhood Playhouse.

His half-uncle, Jean
Hersholt, was an actor best known for his portrayal of Dr. Christian
in the long-running radio series of the same name and the subsequent
television series and films and inspired him to become an actor,
making his television debut in 1948, he quickly expanded to over 50
television appearances two years later.

Nielsen made his film debut
in 1956, and began collecting his roles in dramas, westerns, and
romance films between the 1950s and the 1970s. Nielsen's performance
in the films Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure received
positive reviews as a serious actor, for which he was primarily known
until Airplane!

Nielsen's supporting role
in 1980's Airplane! was a major watershed in his career. The ethos of
the movie, a parody of dramatic disaster films such as Zero Hour! and
Airport, is largely based on building a comedy around actors who were
then known exclusively for their dramatic roles (other stars included
Robert Stack, Peter Graves, and Lloyd Bridges). Nielsen was the
movie's linchpin, his deadpan delivery contrasting with the continual
absurdity surrounding him. When asked, "Surely you can't be
serious?", he responds with a curt, "I am serious. And
don't call me Shirley." The comedic exchange was at #79 on the
American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. The
American Film Institute also included the film in its list of the top
ten comedy films of all time.

For Nielsen, Airplane!
marked a shift from dramatic roles to a new focus on deadpan comedy.
When it was suggested that his role in Airplane! was against type,
Nielsen protested that he had "always been cast against type
before," and that comedy was what he always really wanted to do.
The directors, interested in the success of the new comedy, decided
to bring a similar style of comedy to television, casting Nielsen in
the lead role in their new series, Police Squad!. The series
introduced Nielsen as Frank Drebin, the stereotypical police officer
modeled after serious characters in earlier police TV series.

Police Squad's opening
sequence was based on the 1950s cop show M Squad, (which starred Lee
Marvin), which opened with footage of a police car roving through an
after-dark urban setting with a big band playing a jazz theme song in
the background. The voice-over and the show's organization into
"acts" with an epilogue was homage to Quinn Martin police
dramas including The Fugitive, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby
Jones, The F.B.I., and Cannon. Much like in Airplane!, Nielsen
portrayed a serious character whose one-liners appeared accidental
next to the pratfalls and sight gags around him. Although the show
was quickly canceled, lasting only six episodes after being juggled
between time slots, Nielsen received an Emmy Award nomination for
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Six years after the
cancellation of Police Squad!, its directors decided to make a
feature length version for theaters. Titled The Naked Gun: From the
Files of Police Squad!. The film returned Nielsen to his role as
Frank Drebin and spawned two sequels and dozens of classic Drebin
movie quotes like:

Jane:Thanks, I just had it stuffed.(Camera pans back to
reveal a stuffed beaver on a shelf hehind Jane.)

Nielsen continued acting
well into his 80's appearing in a variety of roles and was inducted
into the Canada and Hollywood Walks of Fame. He was awarded an OC
(Officer of the Order of Canada) by the Governor General of Canada on
October 10th, 2002 for his services to entertainment. Married four
times Nielsen had two daughters from his second marriage, Maura and
Thea Nielsen.

The Streets of San Francisco- One Last Shot (1974)- Before I Die (1973)- Legion of the Lost (1973)

S.W.A.T.- The Running Man: Part 1 and 2 (1976)

Sarge- The Silent Target (1971)

Stage 13- Never Murder Your Grandfather (1950)

Starlight Theatre- The Magic Wire (1951)

Studio One- The Man Who Owned the Town (1954)- A Guest at the Embassy (1954)- Castle in Spain (1954)- Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1954)- Dark Possession (1954)- The Hospital (1952)- The Case of Karen Smith- The Last Cruise (1950)- Spectre of Alexander Wolff (1950)- Zone Four (1950)- The Survivors (1950)- Battleship Bismark (1949)